Kolkata: The new Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled West Bengal Government has decided to organise “Janatar Darbar (People’s Court)” for two hours twice a week soon, where the Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari, will be present to listen to public grievances directly from the people.
An insider from the current state secretariat of Nabanna said that although an official notification in the matter had not yet been issued, the Chief Minister’s Office had taken an in-principle decision to start “Janatar Darbar.”
“A couple of top bureaucrats will accompany the Chief Minister while he is present at the programme, which will be for two hours twice a week. In all probability, an official notification in this matter will be issued this month, and the programme will begin next month.
“Groundwork in the matter at the administrative level has already started, with the modalities of the said programme being worked out,” the state secretariat insider said.
According to him, irrespective of which party is in power, people always have some grievance or another about the administration’s functioning.
“Our new Chief Minister feels that the Chief Minister, as the head of the administration, should have first-hand information about public grievances, the flow of which should come at times directly from the public, besides the ones available to the Chief Minister from the administration headed by him.
“So, the ‘Janatar Darbar’ is being planned so that the Chief Minister can have a pulse of public grievances directly from the people,” the state secretariat insider said.
At the same time, he added that people often want to reach out directly to the Chief Minister about their grievances, but this is not always possible due to security protocols.
“Often, letters addressed to the Chief Minister do not reach him directly. So, keeping all these factors in mind, the concept of ‘Janatar Darbar’ has been planned,” the state secretariat insider said.
(IANS)
